Senior Estate Surveyor

Job Description

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. Our teams use their experience to enable and challenge the Council to deliver improved efficiency and effectiveness. The management of the Council’s property estate plays a significant part in the delivery of its services and is vital to the operation of the Council. The delivery of income and capital receipts from property assets also plays an important role.

About the job
The Valuation and Estates Team within the Property and Assets Directorate provides a value for money, high quality and professional service delivering all West Sussex County Council’s property needs. The team manages the complete life cycle of property ownership of the County Council, , this ranges from the acquisition of land and buildings and their subsequent management, through to disposal, and involves liaison with other teams, the counties operational services, estate agents, tenants, lessees and property owners.

Salary: £49,817 to £55,224 per annum

Location: Your office base will be Chichester

Working pattern: 37 hours, full-time position Monday - Friday

You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes are available.

As a Senior Estate Surveyor, you will be responsible for delivering the effective operation of an estate and valuation service across a broad range of property assets

The County Council portfolio comprises over 300 schools and leased academies, 35 libraries, 28 fire stations, 8 highway depots, and over 250,000 sq. ft of office space together with 1,100 acres of agricultural land and smallholdings. With over 900 property locations, the total asset value is in excess of £1.6 billion.

You will be operating as a key property professional and client contact in respect of the Estate Management and Valuation service and engaging externally appointed consultants to meet objectives and deliver an effective client focussed service.

You’ll be building and maintaining positive, effective relationships and influence activities including working across and outside of the organisation

You will manage landlord and tenant matters across a wide range of property interests, including commercial, community and agricultural occupations.

You will manage up to three Estate Surveyors being responsible for their day-to-day management, ensuring their welfare, providing advice and guidance, delegating tasks and providing training as appropriate.

You will follow procurement procedures and procure and instruct external contractors and agents, agreeing terms of engagement and pricing for such matters as the delivery of condition surveys, planning surveys, pre-app advice, valuation advice and estate agency services.

The role can include the management of contracts providing outsourced services to the team, for example the Agricultural Estate Management Contract, the Asset Valuation Contract and the Ratings Contract. The role will contribute directly into delivering significant capital receipts and income generation for the County Council.

Key Skills:
1. Ability to research, analyse and interpret information to make effective and robust judgements and write and contribute to reports which articulate recommendations, taking account of the broader impacts on the business.
2. Excellent communication and negotiation skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and communicate information which may be complex and contentious. Including the ability to negotiate and gain agreement by successfully convincing others of the need to adopt appropriate courses of action. The ability to discuss matters in group settings, gain engagement/buy-in and agreement by successfully convincing others of the need to adopt appropriate policies and/or courses of action.
3. Strong analytical, valuation and problem-solving skills, with the ability to anticipate problems, plan solutions and make sound pragmatic problem-solving decisions which will have a significant impact for a service or the organisation, particularly in relation to capacity, capability, flexibility and engagement
4. Ability to think laterally and to adapt to changing situations in a measured and flexible manner in order to adapt the advice and guidance provided to suit any change in circumstance whether legislative, structural, partnership related, etc.
5. Sound financial skills to secure income generation and manage expenditure on leases, which does not exceed agreed allocated and planned budgets.
6. Evidence of managing staff or a corporate-focused specialist service to deliver an outstanding service to others.

Qualifications and/or experience:
• A degree or postgraduate qualification in a related discipline appropriate to the specialist role or demonstrable equivalent experience.
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) qualified or significant equivalent post graduate property related qualification or equivalent experience which demonstrates an advanced level of applied and theoretical knowledge of property related disciplines.
• Experience of property management and development with a sound knowledge of property contracts and leases and legislation affecting property related matters (e.g. Landlord and Tenant, Planning).
• Extensive experience in the appropriate specialist work area at a senior level.
• Experience of strategic level work, business and project planning.
• Experience of mentoring staff and/or external consultants to develop effective teams to meet objectives and deliver a professional service.
• Experience of contributing to financially related decisions on larger spends.

• Experience of rural estate and land management matters, including experience of Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies, Farm Business Tenancies, licences, common law occupations, easements, wayleaves and other property rights, would be advantageous.

For further information on the key skills or responsibilities of the role please follow this link to take you to thejob description.

Rewards and Benefits

Access to our Employee Assistance Programme, we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance.

You will benefit from a generous amount of annual leave, plus the opportunity to buy additional leave, an excellentlocal government pension scheme as well as a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers.

For more information about the wide variety of benefits, you can take advantage of please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is (106).

For further information regarding the role please contact Elaine Sanders (Head of Assets Asset Management and Estates) elaine.sanders@westsussex.gov.uk For an informal conversation regarding the application process, please contact Rachael Doolan (Recruitment Specialist) at Rachael.Doolan@westsussex.gov.uk

How to Apply

Click apply below, upload your CV and cover letter. Your cover letter should:

Outline your motivations for applying. Explain the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills in the linked job description to show what skills you have and your level of experience utilising these skills).

Please ensure you have saved the linked job description, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to right to work within the UK, enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, satisfactory references, and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application helppage.